Amazon Announces 4 New Echos

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by rcentros

I'm not the one who brought up either subject (as you know). I'm also not the one who first introduced snide remarks into the conversation.

Snide is fine. I like snide. But please point out where I (or anyone else) introduced anything remotely political or religious to the discussion. That was squarely on your shoulders in post #19.

[ZodWallop]

I just want to be at the company Christmas party where Echo Dots are given out to everyone as gifts triggering an unexpected and shocking harangue about government surveillance.

[ZodWallop]

I'm a Google Home guy rather than an Alexa one. Does anyone know, are the new Echo Pops just a rebrand of the Echo Dot?

They are priced the same and seem to be pretty much the same thing. I couldn't imagine Amazon selling both. And I like the spherical look of the Dot more than the look of the Pop (which vaguely reminds me of the Google/Nest Mini).

[Paperbackstash]

I have an Echo Show 8 and love the sound quality, and an Echo Show 10 primarily for framed photo album effect hanging up and sometimes brief TV when cooking, so have no need for a 5 since the screen is too small for my tastes. I like the design of the new dots, although I hate the name "echo pop" - and also like the color combos. No idea on the sound quality

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by Paperbackstash

...No idea on the sound quality

I admit, I'm no audiophile. For me, all of the Google Home speakers I have (Mini and full size) sound just fine (and I'm sure the Echoes sound equally as good). They are the only speakers I use except for an occasional Bluetooth speaker.

I would guess the Pop sounds as good as the Dot, possibly better.

[haertig]

The Echo Dots (the cheapest of the various models) are not great sound quality for music. Nothing with a speaker that small will be. The sound quality is very good for voice however. I find the older Echo Dots have better sound quality for voice than the newer ones, but the newer ones have better sound quality for music (although still not great). The problem with the newer ones and voice is the heavier bass emphasis - it makes voices sound boomy. This is not a show stopper for people with normal hearing, it's noticeable but not a deal killer, but it was a problem for my elderly mom who had some hearing loss. I traded her newer models out for older models and she was much happier. I don't have any of the larger Echos, Shows or any of those so I don't have any personal experience with their sound quality. I've never even seen one of the larger models in person - everyone I know seems to buy the much cheaper Dots. But we're all in the voice generation regarding Echos, not the music generation. We tend to listen to all our music on those old, large, tuner/preamp/amplifier separate components or on integrated receivers. With speakers the size of a chair.

[Quoth]

Any speaker under 6" with "bass" has boomy thumpy fake bass. Having no bass (cut off about 200 Hz) will work better for speech. Hence traditional phones and 2-way radio were about 300Hz to 3kHz.

Up till about 1960 the smallest size speaker was about 5" even for most portable gear. Many sets had 6" to 8". You also need cabinet volume. It's physics. Hence the typical TV sound bar has far worse bass than 1935 to 1970s table top radios and most TVs till the 1960s.

[SteveEisenberg]

I’m more concerned about the microphones, especially when music in on (as it often is in our house) and we are saying “Hey Google Pause.” Usually we have to say it a couple times, although I just tried on our Nest audio, and it did it the first time.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by rcentros

Global warming (and cooling) comes and goes with sunspots. We can't "fix" that.

Sorry, but that's not correct. That's not global warming.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by rcentros

Choice is good and you've chosen differently than I would. I would rather give up some convenience to remove the possibility of a spying device in my home. If I'm wrong, I really haven't lost anything.

If you really want privacy, you should be living in a cave all alone.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by rcentros

"Amazon confirms it holds on to Alexa data even if you delete audio files"

https://www.theverge.com/2019/7/3/20...ording-privacy

So what does Amazon do now in 2023 especially with EU privacy laws? That article was from 2019. Things could have changed in 4 years.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by SteveEisenberg

I’m more concerned about the microphones, especially when music in on (as it often is in our house) and we are saying “Hey Google Pause.” Usually we have to say it a couple times...

Yeah, I've had that happen a couple of times. Maybe Google is just grooving a bit too much to Michael McDonald and doesn't feel like taking a break.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

If you really want privacy, you should be living in a cave all alone.

How do you know we're still not returning to normal after the Little Ice Age? And what is the normal temperature? How do we determine it?

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

If you really want privacy, you should be living in a cave all alone.

Hyperbole much?

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Snide is fine. I like snide.

Yeah, I've noticed you like it. I think you equate it with wit.

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

But please point out where I (or anyone else) introduced anything remotely political or religious to the discussion. That was squarely on your shoulders in post #19.

I was pointing out recent news showing normal people being persecuted by the FBI for their religious and political beliefs — and how the FBI could conceivably use the audio information stored on Amazon to aid in their witch hunts. The point was not to argue politics, but to show some examples about how the Echos bugging could be used for government overreach. I guess you got triggered by the examples I used instead of getting the point.